Policy based location protection service

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing privacy protection with regard to location data of an electronic device. The methods comprise: receiving a request to access the location data of the electronic device; determining a privacy protection level associated with the electronic device based on condition related information of the electronic device; blocking access to the location data of the electronic device by the software application based on the privacy protection level; modifying the location data to generate remapped location data of the electronic device based on the privacy protection level associated with the electronic device; and providing the remapped location data to the software application so as to operate the software application without using the location data of electronic device.

BACKGROUND Statement of the Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to computing systems. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to implementing systems andmethods for providing a policy based location protection service.

Description of the Related Art

The growing popularity of location-based systems, allowingunknown/untrusted servers to easily collect huge amounts of informationregarding users' locations, has recently started raising serious privacyconcerns, such as where a person has been and/or is predicted to go. Inmost cases, especially for a mobile device, once a software applicationhas been granted access to the device's location, the person's privacybecomes transparent to that software application. For example, once abusiness application is granted access to the device's location, thisbusiness application knows where the device is at all times includingbusiness hours and non-business hours.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure concerns implementing systems and methods forproviding privacy protection with regard to location data of anelectronic device. The methods comprise: receiving a request to accessthe location data of the electronic device; determining a privacyprotection level associated with the electronic device based oncondition related information of the electronic device; blocking accessto the location data of the electronic device by the softwareapplication based on the privacy protection level; modifying thelocation data to generate remapped location data of the electronicdevice based on the privacy protection level associated with theelectronic device; and providing the remapped location data to thesoftware application so as to operate the software application withoutusing the location data of electronic device.

In some scenarios, the privacy protection level is determined based oncondition related information specifying an electronic device context.The condition related information is obtained from the electronic deviceor a remote datastore. The electronic device context is a product of atleast one of the electronic device's owner, the software application'suser, the software application's type, the software application'sreputation, a heading direction, the precise location, a date and atime. The blocking comprises comparing the privacy protection levelvalue to a threshold value. The modifying the location data comprisesrandomly selecting a location within a geographic area representing theprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device. Thegeographic area has a radius selected based on the privacy protectionlevel.

In those or other scenarios, the privacy protection level is a firstprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device. A secondprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device isgenerated that is different from the first privacy protection level. Themethods further comprise allowing the software application access to thelocation data when the privacy protection level is equal to or greaterthan a threshold value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present solution will be described with reference to the followingdrawing figures, in which like numerals represent like items throughoutthe figures.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an illustrative system.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for anelectronic device.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an illustrative architecture for acomputing device.

FIG. 4 provides an illustration showing an illustrative workflow inaccordance with the present solution.

FIG. 5 provides an illustrative look-up table that is used to determinethe privacy protection level based on the existing conditions defined bythe above-listed information.

FIG. 6 provides an illustrative look-up table showing how a privacyprotection level can be used to facilitate a remapping or obscuring oflocation information.

FIG. 7 provides an illustration that is useful for understanding how theuser's actual location is remapped.

FIG. 8 provides an illustration that is useful for understanding amanaged device based workflow implemented by a managed electronic deviceand a remote computing device.

FIG. 9 provides an illustration that is useful for understanding amanaged application based workflow implemented by a managed applicationand a remote computing device.

FIG. 10 provides an illustration that is useful for understanding avirtual application based workflow implemented by a managed virtualchannel and a remote computing device.

FIG. 11 provides a flow diagram of an illustrative method for providingprivacy protection with regard to a precise location of an electronicdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments asgenerally described herein and illustrated in the appended figures couldbe arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the following more detailed description of various embodiments, asrepresented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent disclosure, but is merely representative of various embodiments.While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings,the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specificallyindicated.

The present solution may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the present solution is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by this detaileddescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, orsimilar language does not imply that all of the features and advantagesthat may be realized with the present solution should be or are in anysingle embodiment of the present solution. Rather, language referring tothe features and advantages is understood to mean that a specificfeature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with anembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the presentsolution. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similarlanguage, throughout the specification may, but do not necessarily,refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages and characteristics ofthe present solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one ormore embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, inlight of the description herein, that the present solution can bepracticed without one or more of the specific features or advantages ofa particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features andadvantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not bepresent in all embodiments of the present solution.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the indicatedembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the presentsolution. Thus, the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, andsimilar language throughout this specification may, but do notnecessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

As used in this document, the singular form “a”, “an”, and “the” includeplural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unlessdefined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein havethe same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in theart. As used in this document, the term “comprising” means “including,but not limited to”.

People find it frustrating that their whereabouts are known by softwareapplications (such as those discussed in the background section of thisdocument) without any contextual evaluation. The present solutionprovides a way to address this frustration. In this regard, the presentsolution provides a policy-based service that protects the privacy oflocation data retrieved from devices such as a mobile device, anInternet of Things (“IoT”) and an endpoint of a network. This protectionis achieved by: performing a contextual evaluation using locationinformation to detect certain conditions; and allowing or blockingaccess to location information and/or the rewriting of locationinformation when certain conditions are detected. The contextualevaluation can involve determining an owner of an electronic device,determining when a given software application is in use, identifying theperson using the software application being executed by the electronicdevice, determining where the person is currently located, determiningwhen the person is or was located at a given location, determining thetype of software application or micro-application accessing the locationinformation, determining a reputation of the software application ormicro-application accessing the location information, determining aprotection level methodology implemented by the software application,determining a potential heading direction, and/or determining apotential path of travel of a mobile device.

Conventionally, access to location information has been easily grantedto software applications during a one-time configuration process (e.g.,at installation time) and provided without any contextual limitations.By introducing a policy-based location protection service, the followingis made possible: a determination as to whether a given softwareapplication is able to access and/or retrieve precise locationinformation; a detection of an existence of certain conditions; ablocking of the software application's access and/or retrieval of theprecise location information when certain conditions exist; a selectivemodification of the precise location information to generate censoredlocation information; and/or the provision of the censored locationinformation to the software application.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is provided an illustration of anillustrative system 100. System 100 is generally configured to provide aservice to a plurality of electronic devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102 _(N).The service provides privacy protection with regard to the electronicdevices' whereabouts. The electronic devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102 _(N)include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, personal computers,laptops, tablets, personal digital assistants, IoTs and/or other networkend nodes. The electronic devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102 _(N) are configuredto communicate information to and from a remote computing device 106(e.g., a server) via a network (e.g., the Internet or Intranet) 104.

The information communicated from the devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102 _(N) tothe remote computing device 106 comprises condition related information.The condition related information includes, but is not limited to,device owners, application users, application reputations, devicelocations, heading directions, time and/or dates. Some or all of thisinformation may also be retrieved by the remote computing device 106from a datastore 108. The datastore 108 is provided to storeinformation. The datastore can include, but is not limited to, adatabase.

The condition related information is used by the remote computing device106 to determine privacy protection levels respectively for theelectronic devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102 _(N). Each privacy protectionlevel represents one of a plurality of different levels of privacyprotection. The privacy protection levels are then communicated from theremote computing device 106 to the electronic devices 102 ₁, . . . , 102_(N). Each electronic device uses its respective privacy protectionlevel to dynamically select or determine a radius value. The radiusvalue can be selected from a pre-stored list of radius values.Alternatively, the radius value can be computed using a chaotic, random,or pseudo-random number generation algorithm, to name just a fewexamples. Chaotic, random or pseudo-random number generation algorithmsare well known in the art, and therefore will not be described herein.Any known or to be known chaotic, random or pseudo-random numbergeneration algorithm can be used herein without limitation. Next, theelectronic device performs operations to randomly select a location witha circle area defined by the electronic device's actual location and theradius. The randomly selected location is then used to remap theelectronic device's actual location in order to achievegeo-indistinguishability by adding controlled random noise thereto, aswill be described in relation to FIG. 7 below. The remapped location isprovided to one or more location using software applications running onor being executed by the electronic device.

The above process is based on a differential privacy theory.Differential privacy is the statistical science of trying to learn asmuch as possible about a group while learning as little as possibleabout any individual in the group. A tradeoff can be achieved betweenauthorized or unauthorized servers and individuals. Relevant researchdepartments can make the best advantage of location data. Individualprivacy can also be protected.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is provided an illustration of anillustrative electronic device 200. Electronic device 200 can include,but is not limited to, a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone, a personaldigital assistant, a personal computer, etc.), an IoT or a network node(e.g., an end point).

Electronic device 200 may include more or less components than thoseshown in FIG. 2. However, the components shown are sufficient todisclose an illustrative embodiment implementing the present solution.Some or all of the components of the electronic device 200 can beimplemented in hardware, software and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware. The hardware includes, but is not limited to, one or moreelectronic circuits. The electronic circuits can include, but are notlimited to, passive components (e.g., resistors and capacitors) and/oractive components (e.g., amplifiers and/or microprocessors). The passiveand/or active components can be adapted to, arranged to and/orprogrammed to perform one or more of the methodologies, procedures, orfunctions described herein.

As noted above, the electronic device 200 can include, but is notlimited to, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant, acellular phone or a mobile phone with smart device functionality (e.g.,a Smartphone). In this regard, the electronic device 200 comprises anantenna 202 for receiving and transmitting Radio Frequency (“RF”)signals. A receive/transmit (“Rx/Tx”) switch 204 selectively couples theantenna 202 to the transmitter circuitry 206 and the receiver circuitry208. The receiver circuitry 208 demodulates and decodes the RF signalsreceived from an external device. The receiver circuitry 208 is coupledto a controller (or microprocessor) 210 via an electrical connection.The receiver circuitry 208 provides the decoded signal information tothe controller 210. The controller 210 uses the decoded RF signalinformation in accordance with the function(s) of the electronic device200. The controller 210 also provides information to the transmittercircuitry 206 for encoding and modulating information into RF signals.Accordingly, the controller 210 is coupled to the transmitter circuitry206 via an electrical connection. The transmitter circuitry 206communicates the RF signals to the antenna 202 for transmission to anexternal device via the Rx/Tx switch 204.

The electronic device 200 also comprises an antenna 220 coupled to aShort Range Communications (“SRC”) transceiver 214 for receiving SRCsignals. SRC transceivers are well known in the art, and therefore willnot be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood thatthe SRC transceiver 214 processes the SRC signals to extract informationtherefrom. The SRC transceiver 214 may process the SRC signals in amanner defined by the SRC application 254 installed on the electronicdevice 200. The SRC application 254 can include, but is not limited to,a Commercial Off the Shelf (“COTS”) application (e.g., a Bluetoothapplication). The SRC transceiver 214 is coupled to the controller 210via an electrical connection. The controller 210 uses the extractedinformation in accordance with the function(s) of the electronic device200.

The controller 210 may store received and extracted information inmemory 212 of the electronic device 200. Accordingly, the memory 212 isconnected to and accessible by the controller 210 through electricalconnection. The memory 212 may be a volatile memory and/or anon-volatile memory. For example, memory 212 can include, but is notlimited to, a Random Access Memory (“RAM”), a Dynamic RAM (“DRAM”), aRead Only Memory (“ROM”) and a flash memory. The memory 212 may alsocomprise unsecure memory and/or secure memory. The unsecure memory ismemory that is not protected from tampering. The secure memory is memorythat has at least one measure to protect against tampering. The memory212 can be used to store location information 260, 262 and otherinformation therein. The other information can include, but is notlimited to, authentication information, cryptographic information, anduser account information, just to name a few examples.

The electronic device 200 also may comprise a barcode reader 222.Barcode readers are well known in the art, and therefore will not bedescribed herein. However, it should be understood that the barcodereader 222 is generally configured to scan a barcode and process thescanned barcode to extract information therefrom. The barcode reader 222may process the barcode in a manner defined by the barcode application256 installed on the electronic device 200. Additionally, the barcodescanning application can use camera 228 to capture the barcode image forprocessing. The barcode application 256 can include, but is not limitedto, a COTS application. The barcode reader 222 provides the extractedinformation to the controller 210. As such, the barcode reader 222 iscoupled to the controller 210 via an electrical connection. Thecontroller 210 uses the extracted information in accordance with thefunction(s) of the electronic device 200.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more sets of instructions 250 are stored inmemory 212. The instructions may include customizable instructions andnon-customizable instructions. The term customizable instructions refersto instructions that can be customized by a user. The termnon-customizable instructions refers to instructions that cannot becustomized by a user. The instructions 250 can also reside, completelyor at least partially, within the controller 210 during executionthereof by electronic device 200. In this regard, the memory 212 and thecontroller 210 can constitute machine-readable media. The term“machine-readable media”, as used herein, refers to a single medium ormultiple media that stores one or more sets of instructions 250. Theterm “machine-readable media”, as used here, also refers to any mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying the set of instructions250 for execution by the electronic device 200 and that causes theelectronic device 200 to perform one or more of the methodologies of thepresent disclosure.

The controller 210 is also connected to a user interface 226. The userinterface 226 comprises input devices 216, output devices 218 andsoftware routines (not shown in FIG. 2) configured to allow a user tointeract with and control software applications (e.g., softwareapplications 252-258 and other software applications) installed on theelectronic device 200. Such input and output devices may include, butare not limited to, a display 236, a speaker 234, a keypad 230, adirectional pad (not shown in FIG. 2), a directional knob (not shown inFIG. 2), a microphone 232, and a camera 228. The display 236 may bedesigned to accept touch screen inputs. As such, user interface 226 canfacilitate a user software interaction for launching applications (e.g.,software applications 252-258 and other software applications) installedon the electronic device 200. The user interface 226 can facilitate auser-software interactive session for initiating communications with anexternal device (e.g., computing device 106 of FIG. 1); and/or launchingapplications 252-258.

The display 236, keypad 230, directional pad (not shown in FIG. 2) anddirectional knob (not shown in FIG. 2) can collectively provide a userwith a means to initiate one or more software applications or functionsof the electronic device 200. The application software 252-258 canfacilitate the data exchange between (a) a user and the electronicdevice 200, and (b) the electronic device 200 and an external computingdevice 106. In this regard, the application software 252-258 performsone or more of the following: verify the identity of a user ofelectronic device 200 via an authentication process; present informationto the user indicating this his/her identity has or has not beenverified; present a Graphical User Interface (“GUI”) to the user forenabling the user to subscribe to a service for providing privacyprotection with regard it his(her) whereabouts. The service facilitatesthe following operations: communicating condition related information270 to the external device; selectively blocking software application(s)258 access to location information 260 specifying the precise locationof the electronic device; modifying the location information 260 togenerate modified location information 262 specifying a remapped orobscured location for the electronic device; and/or providing themodified location information 262 to location using softwareapplication(s) 258.

The location sensor 264 is configured to generate information indicatinga precise location for the electronic device. The location sensor 264can include, but is not limited to, GPS sensors. The battery 224 caninclude any known or to be known battery, and optionally berechargeable. The vibration device 240 is configured to provide atactile output comprising vibration. The light emitted diodes 238 caninclude any known or to be known light emitting diode. The differentialmodifier 268 includes hardware and/or software configured to implementone or more of the methodologies, procedures, or functions describedherein. The operations of the differential modifier 268 are evident fromthe discussion.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is provided an illustration of anillustrative architecture for a computing device 300. Computing device106 of FIG. 1 is the same as or similar to computing device 300. Assuch, the discussion of computing device 300 is sufficient forunderstanding this component of system 100.

In some scenarios, the present solution is used in a client-serverarchitecture. Accordingly, the computing device architecture shown inFIG. 3 is sufficient for understanding the particulars of clientcomputing devices and servers.

Computing device 300 may include more or less components than thoseshown in FIG. 3. However, the components shown are sufficient todisclose an illustrative solution implementing the present solution. Thehardware architecture of FIG. 3 represents one implementation of arepresentative computing device configured to provide improved emailattachment viewing, as described herein. As such, the computing device300 of FIG. 3 implements at least a portion of the method(s) describedherein.

Some or all components of the computing device 300 can be implemented ashardware, software and/or a combination of hardware and software. Thehardware includes, but is not limited to, one or more electroniccircuits. The electronic circuits can include, but are not limited to,passive components (e.g., resistors and capacitors) and/or activecomponents (e.g., amplifiers and/or microprocessors). The passive and/oractive components can be adapted to, arranged to and/or programmed toperform one or more of the methodologies, procedures, or functionsdescribed herein.

As shown in FIG. 3, the computing device 300 comprises a user interface302, a Central Processing Unit (“CPU”) 306, a system bus 310, a memory312 connected to and accessible by other portions of computing device300 through system bus 310, a system interface 360, and hardwareentities 314 connected to system bus 310. The user interface 302 caninclude input devices and output devices, which facilitate user-softwareinteractions for controlling operations of the computing device 300. Theinput devices include, but are not limited, a physical and/or touchkeyboard 350. The input devices can be connected to the computing device300 via a wired or wireless connection (e.g., a Bluetooth® connection).The output devices include, but are not limited to, a speaker 352, adisplay 354, and/or light emitting diodes 356. System interface 360 isconfigured to facilitate wired or wireless communications to and fromexternal devices (e.g., network nodes such as access points, etc.).

At least some of the hardware entities 314 perform actions involvingaccess to and use of memory 312, which can be a Radom Access Memory(“RAM”), a disk driver and/or a Compact Disc Read Only Memory(“CD-ROM”). Hardware entities 314 can include a disk drive unit 316comprising a computer-readable storage medium 318 on which is stored oneor more sets of instructions 320 (e.g., software code) configured toimplement one or more of the methodologies, procedures, or functionsdescribed herein. The instructions 320 can also reside, completely or atleast partially, within the memory 312 and/or within the CPU 306 duringexecution thereof by the computing device 300. The memory 312 and theCPU 306 also can constitute machine-readable media. The term“machine-readable media”, as used here, refers to a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions 320. The term “machine-readable media”, as used here, alsorefers to any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying aset of instructions 320 for execution by the computing device 300 andthat cause the computing device 300 to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The policy engine 304 includes hardware and/or software configured toimplement one or more of the methodologies, procedures, or functionsdescribed herein. The operations of the policy engine 304 are evidentfrom the discussion.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is provided an illustration that isuseful for understanding the present solution. As noted above, thepresent solution provides a service for protecting the privacy of peoplewhereabouts. This privacy protection is provided by implementing aprivacy protection framework. The term “privacy protection framework”refers to the underlying hardware and/or software for implementing thepresent solution. The privacy protection framework consist of fourparts: a precise location for an electronic device (e.g., GPS locationdetermined by GPS sensors 264 of FIG. 2); a policy engine fordetermining a privacy protection level associated with the electronicdevice; a remapped or obscured location for the electronic device; and adifferential privacy protection technique for determining the remappedor obscured location in accordance with the privacy protection level. Insome scenarios, the remapped or obscured location is generated by addingcontrolled noise to the precise location based on a controlled privacyprotection level. The purpose of and manner in which the controllernoise is added to the precise location will become evident as thediscussion progresses.

During operations, condition related information 402 is analyzed by apolicy engine 304 of the computing device 106 to select or determine aprivacy protection level 404 that is appropriate or desired for givenexisting conditions associated with the electronic device 102 ₁. Thecondition related information includes, but is not limited to, a deviceowner, an application user, an application reputation, a devicelocation, a heading direction, a time and/or a date.

In order to determine the privacy protection level 404, the policyengine 304 first performs a context based evaluation of the conditionrelated information 402 using at least one of the following information:device owner; application user; application user's role; applicationtype (e.g., business application, remote access application, socialapplication, banking application, shopping application, searchingapplication, and/or gaming application); application reputation for enduser privacy violations; a time/date a device or application is in use;location at which the device or application is in use; and/or a headingdirection of the device. For example, the time/date can be used inconjunction with a personal calendar to determine if the device orapplication is in use during business hours, off shift hours, weekendhours, sick time hours, or paid time off hours. The location can be usedto determine if the user is in a trusted zone or an untrusted zone. Atrusted zone is a geographic area which is secured and/or monitored by asecurity device. An untrusted zone is a geographic area which is notsecured and/or monitored by a security device. Based on the above-listedinformation, the policy engine 304 selects, determines or computes aprivacy protection level.

In the scenario shown in FIG. 5, a look-up table is used to determinethe privacy protection level 404 based on the existing conditionsdefined by the above-listed information. The look-up table can bepre-defined, generated based on user input, or generated based on sensordata. The contents of the look-up table can be updated periodically orcontinuously. The look-up table can be stored in datastore 108 and/or amemory of computing device 106. The present solution is not limited inthis regard. Other techniques can be used to select or compute theprivacy protection level.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the privacy protection level 404 is forwardedto the electronic device 102 ₁. At the electronic device 102 ₁, theprivacy protection level 404 is used by a controller 210 to selectivelyblock or allow a software application's 258 access to locationinformation 260, as shown by FIG. 6. For example, a software application258 ability to access location information 260 is blocked when theprivacy protection level is equal to, below or above a certain thresholdlevel (e.g., 3) as indicated in the look-up table of FIG. 6. Techniquesfor blocking software applications access to data are well known in theart, and therefore will not be described herein. Any known or to beknown technique for blocking a software's access to data can be usedherein without limitation. The threshold level is predefined. If accessis not blocked, then the location information 260 is provided to thelocation using software application 258. In contrast if access isblocked, then the privacy protection level 404 is also used by adifferential information modifier 268 to dynamically remap the user'sprecise location specified by the location information 160 in accordancewith a respective modification algorithm 602, 604, 606. The manner inwhich a location is dynamically remapped will become evident as thediscussion progresses. The modification algorithm 602, 604, 606 isidentified in the look-up table of FIG. 6 as being associated with therespective privacy protection levels. Accordingly, the privacyprotection levels are used to determine and/or select the particularmodification algorithm being used at a particular time. The remappedlocation is stored in a local memory 212 as modified locationinformation 162. The remapped location specified by the modifiedlocation information 162 is then provided to a location using softwareapplication 258 rather than the user's actual location specified by theoriginal precise location information 160.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is provided an illustration that isuseful for understanding how the user's actual location is remapped. Thedifferential information modifier 268 implements a notion of protectingthe user's location within a circle area which indicates the privacyprotection level 404, and corresponds to a generalized version of theconcept of differential privacy. For example, a first circle area 702 isdefined by a first radius 706 (which can be determined using a look-uptable such as that shown in FIG. 6 using the privacy protection level)extending from a center point 700 comprising the person's preciselocation when the privacy protection level has a first value (e.g., 3),and a second circle area 704 is defined by a second radius 708 (whichcan be determined using a look-up table such as that shown in FIG. 6using the privacy protection level) extending from a center point 700comprising the person's precise location when the privacy protectionlevel has a second value (e.g., 2). When a privacy protection level isdetermined, then the modified location information will reflect a deviceposition of within a radius associated with the privacy protectionlevel. For example, a privacy protection level 2, the modified locationinformation indicates that the device is somewhere within the radius708. Thus, the specific location 700 of the device is not particularlyidentified to the location using application. The present solution isnot limited in this regard. For example, the radius value for a givenprivacy protection level can be infinite as shown in FIG. 6 in relationto a privacy protection level value of 1. The precise locationcoordinates are remapped into a random and/or irreversible location 710inside a circle area 702, 704 with a variable radius R determined basedon the user's actual location and the privacy protection leveldetermined by the policy engine 304. The remapping generally addscontrolled noise to the user's actual location. Furthermore, thedifferential modifier can be used to process 3D coordinates combinedwith altitude. The present solution covers <altitude & latitude>.

The present solution can be used in a variety of applications. Forexample, the present solution can be used with managed devices, managedapplications, and virtualization application. Conventionally, softwareapplications directly query the location information from locationsensors (e.g., GPS sensors). The location sensors respond to the querywith accurate location information. There is no middleware between thesoftware application and the location sensors. Thus, the locationsensors can simply answer the query via a response with the accuratelocation information. Accordingly, the software application is neverprovided obscured or protection location information. So, the person'sprivacy about his(her) whereabouts is under great risk of violation.Notably, most conventional software applications ask the user whetherthey want to share location data. These permission requests diminish theoverall user experience from the software application. In addition, suchpermission requests user additional resources, which may be limited tosome devices (e.g., mobile devices having limited supply of power). So,the conventional devices leave the user with a binary choice, to shareor not to share location information. Not sharing location informationcan also diminish user experience for the software application bypreventing the application from providing content that is most relevantto the user.

Managed Device Scenario

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is provided an illustration that isuseful for understanding a managed device based workflow implemented bya managed electronic device 800 and a remote computing device 850.Managed electronic device 800 can be the same as or similar toelectronic device 102 ₁, . . . , or 102 _(N) of FIG. 1. Similarly,computing device 850 can be the same as or similar to computing device106 of FIG. 1. As such, the discussion provided above in relation tothese devices of FIG. 1 is sufficient for understanding the devices ofFIG. 8.

In managed device scenarios, the differential information modifier 810and location sensor(s) 806 are integrated with each other so as to forma single component 830. When the location sensor(s) 806 respond(s) to aquery or request 804 for location information from a location usingapplication 802, the privacy protection framework including 810, 816adds controllable noise to the location information 808 to generatemodified location information to be used by application 802. In thisway, all software applications 802, which run on this managed electronicdevice 800, can only get location information from the privacyprotection framework 810, 816 rather than the location sensor(s) 806,and thus protect information that precisely or otherwise specificallyidentifies a user's whereabouts. For example, when the managedelectronic device 800 enrolls with the computing device 850, a customercan choose whether to integrate the present solution (e.g., byregistering with a service and/or downloading a software application).If so, at least a portion of the privacy protection framework 810, 816is integrated with the location sensor(s) 806, which providesflexibility to a customer's experience.

The managed device based workflow involves: sending a request forlocation information 804 from a software application 802 to a locationsensor 806; communicating location information 808 from the locationsensor 806 to a differential information modifier 810 in response to thequery; sending a request for a privacy protection level 812 andcondition related information 814 from the differential informationmodifier 810 to a policy engine 816; optionally performing operations bythe policy engine 816 to retrieve other condition related information818 from a datastore; analyzing by the policy engine 816 the conditionrelated information 814, 818; determining a privacy policy level basedon results of the policy engine's analysis of the condition relatedinformation; communicating the privacy policy level 820 from the policyengine 816 to the differential information modifier 810; remapping orobscuring the location information 808 so as to generate modifiedlocation information 822; and providing the location information 808 tothe location sensor 806.

Managed Applications

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is provided an illustration that isuseful for understanding a managed application based workflowimplemented by a managed application 930 and a remote computing device950. Electronic device 900 can be the same as or similar to electronicdevice 102 ₁, . . . , or 102 _(N) of FIG. 1. Similarly, computing device950 can be the same as or similar to computing device 106 of FIG. 1. Assuch, the discussion provided above in relation to these devices of FIG.1 is sufficient for understanding the devices of FIG. 9.

In managed application scenarios, the differential information modifier906 and location using application(s) 902 are integrated with each otherso as to form a single component 930 (e.g., managed application).Instead of querying the location sensor 908, the software application902 sends a request for location information 904 to the privacyprotection framework 906, 916. The privacy protection framework 906, 916then obtains the location information 910 from the location sensor(s)908. After processing the privacy protection, the privacy protectionframework 906, 916 answers the request 904 from the location usingapplication 902. If the software application 902 comprises a pluralityof modules or micro-applications that can request location informationat the same time, the privacy protection framework 906, 916 can providedifferent privacy protection levels respectively for the modules ormicro-applications, which also ensures high flexibility to customerexperiences.

The managed application based workflow involves: sending a request forlocation information 904 from a software application 902 to adifferential information modifier 906; forwarding the request 904 to alocation sensor 908; communicating location information 910 from thelocation sensor 908 to the differential information modifier 906 inresponse to the request 904; sending a request for a privacy protectionlevel 912 along with condition related information 914 from thedifferential information modifier 906 to a policy engine 916; optionallyperforming operations by the policy engine 916 to retrieve othercondition related information 918 from a datastore; analyzing by thepolicy engine 916 the condition related information 914, 918;determining a privacy policy level based on results of the policyengine's analysis of the condition related information; communicatingthe privacy policy level 920 from the policy engine 916 to thedifferential information modifier 906; remapping or obscuring thelocation information 910 so as to generate modified location information922; and providing the modified location information 922 to the locationusing applicaiton 902.

Virtualized Application Based Workflow

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is provided an illustration that isuseful for understanding a virtual application based workflowimplemented by an electronic device 1000 and a remote computing device1050. Electronic device 1000 can be the same as or similar to electronicdevice 102 ₁, . . . , or 102 _(N) of FIG. 1. Similarly, computing device1050 can be the same as or similar to computing device 106 of FIG. 1. Assuch, the discussion provided above in relation to these devices of FIG.1 is sufficient for understanding the devices of FIG. 10.

In some virtual application scenarios (e.g., Citrix XenApp andXenDesktop scenarios), a hosted application 1002 is installed on acomputing device 1050. This hosted application 1002 and a Software as aService (“SaaS”) application are securely delivered to electronic device1000 (e.g., edge devices or endpoints) via a privacy protection engine1006. The privacy protection engine 1006 includes, but is not limitedto, an HDX engine.

A portion of the privacy protection framework (such as differentialinformation modifier 1026) can be implemented in the privacy protectionengine 1006. Accordingly, the privacy protection framework including1022, 1026 is able to intercept location information passing between theelectronic device 1000 and the hosted application 1002 and interceptlocation information passing between the electronic device 1000 and SaaSapplication(s). More specifically, the differential information modifier1026 is able to obtain precise location information from the electronicdevice 1000 and return remapped or obscured location information to thehosted application 1002 or SaaS application(s) based on results of acontextual analysis.

For example, when an SaaS application is accessed via a virtualizedbrowser and the SaaS application needs access to the electronic device'slocation for commercial advertisement or tracking purposes, the privacyprotection framework including 1022, 1026 is able to protect the privacyof the person's whereabouts in accordance with a context based policy.

The visualized application based workflow involves: sending a requestfor location information 1004 from a hosted application 1002 to aprivacy protection engine 1006; forwarding the request 1004 to a clientapplication 1008 of the electronic device 1000; performing operations bythe client application 1008 to obtain location information 1014 from alocation sensor 1012; receiving by the client application 1008 locationinformation 1014 from the location sensor 1012; communicating thelocation information 1014 from the electronic device 1000 to the privacyprotection engine 1006; sending a request for a privacy protection level1016 along with condition related information 1018 from the privacyprotection engine 1006 to a policy engine 1022 of computing device 1050;optionally performing operations by the policy engine 1022 to retrieveother condition related information 1020 from a datastore; analyzing bythe policy engine 1022 the condition related information 1018, 1020;determining a privacy policy level based on results of the policyengine's analysis of the condition related information; communicatingthe privacy policy level 1024 from the policy engine 1022 to adifferential information modifier 1026 of the privacy protection engine1006; remapping or obscuring the location information 1014 so as togenerate modified location information 1028; and providing the modifiedlocation information 1028 to the hosted application 1002.

The present solution is not limited to the architecture shown in FIG.10. For example, the policy engine 1022 can alternatively be a separatecomponent from the computing device 1050. In this scenarios, the presentsolution is an independent solution.

Referring now to FIG. 11, there is provided a flow diagram of anillustrative method 1100 for providing privacy protection with regard toa precise location of an electronic device (e.g., electronic device 102₁, . . . , 102 _(N) of FIG. 1). The method 1100 begins with 1102 andcontinues with 1104 where a determination is made as to whether asoftware application (e.g., software application 258 of FIG. 2) runningon or being executed by the electronic device is trying to access theprecise location (e.g., location information 260 of FIG. 2). If not[1106:NO], then method 1100 returns to 1104. In some scenarios, this isachieved at the Operating System (“OS”) level based on event detectionand analysis, as should be understood.

If so [1106:YES], then 1108 is performed where a determination is madeas to whether given conditions associated with the electronic deviceexist. The existence of given conditions is detected based on conditionrelated information specifying an electronic device context. Thecondition related information is obtained from the electronic device ora remote datastore (e.g., datastore 108 of FIG. 1). The electronicdevice context is a product of at least one of the electronic device'sowner, the software application's user, the software application's type,the software application's reputation, a heading direction, the preciselocation, a date and a time.

If not [1110:NO], then method 1100 continues with 1112 where thesoftware application is allowed access to the precise location.Subsequently, 1120 is performed where method 1100 ends or otherprocessing is performed.

If so [1110:YES], then 1114-1118 are performed. 1114 involves blockingthe software application's access to the precise location. In somescenarios, the blocking comprises: determining a privacy protectionlevel value based on the condition related information; and comparingthe privacy protection level value to a threshold value. 1116 involvesmodifying the precise location to generate a remapped location. Theselectively modification comprises randomly selecting a location withina circular geographic area representing a privacy protection levelassociated with the electronic device. The circular geographic area has(1) a center point comprising the precise location of the electronicdevice and (b) a radius selected based on a privacy protection leveldetermined based on the given conditions. First and second privacyprotection levels have different radius. 1118 involves providing theremapped location to the software application. Subsequently, 1120 isperformed where method 1100 ends or other processing is performed.

Although the present solution has been illustrated and described withrespect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations andmodifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the readingand understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Inaddition, while a particular feature of the present solution may havebeen disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, suchfeature may be combined with one or more other features of the otherimplementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application. Thus, the breadth and scope of the presentsolution should not be limited by any of the above describedembodiments. Rather, the scope of the present solution should be definedin accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A method, comprising: receiving, by an electronic device, a requestfrom an application to receive data, the data indicative of a physicallocation of the electronic device; blocking, by the electronic device,the application from access to the data in response to the receivedrequest so as to prevent transfer of the data to the application;determining, by the electronic device, a geographic area that includes acenter point and a radius, the center point indicative of the physicallocation of the electronic device and the radius being selectable basedon (1) ownership of the electronic device, (2) reputation of theapplication, (3) heading information of the electronic device, and (4)the physical location of the electronic device; selecting, by theelectronic device, a location within the geographic area defined by theselected radius, the selected location being different than the physicallocation of the electronic device; and providing, by the electronicdevice, the selected location to the application so as to enableoperation of the application without use of data that includes thephysical location of the electronic device.
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the radius is selectedfurther based on at least one of the application's user, theapplication's type, a date and a time.
 5. The method according to claim1, wherein the blocking comprises comparing a privacy protection levelvalue to a threshold value.
 6. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe location, in the geographic area defined by the selected radius, israndomly selected.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein thegeographic area has a radius selected based on a privacy protectionlevel.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the privacyprotection level is a first privacy protection level associated with theelectronic device, the method further includes determining a secondprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device, thesecond privacy protection level being different from the first privacyprotection level.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein theapplication is allowed access to the location data in response to aprivacy protection level being equal to or greater than a thresholdvalue.
 10. A system, comprising: a processor; and a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructionsthat are configured to cause the processor to implement a method forproviding privacy protection with regard to location data of anelectronic device, wherein the programming instructions compriseinstructions to: receive, from a software application running on orbeing executed by the electronic device, a request to access thelocation data of the electronic device; in response to the request,determine a privacy protection level associated with the electronicdevice based on results of a context evaluation using condition relatedinformation specifying current existing conditions associated with theelectronic device; compare the privacy protection level to a thresholdvalue; selectively allow or block access to the location data of theelectronic device by the software application based on results of thecomparing; and performing the following operations when access to thelocation data is selectively blocked: modify the location data togenerate remapped location data of the electronic device based on theprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device; andprovide the remapped location data to the software application so as tooperate the software application without using the location data ofelectronic device.
 11. An electronic device, comprising: a processor; asensor configured to generate location data of the electronic device;and a policy protection module executable by the processor and incommunication with the sensor, the module configured to: receive arequest, from a software application running on or being executed by theelectronic device, to access the location data of the electronic device;in response to the request, determine a privacy protection levelassociated with the electronic device based on results of a contextevaluation using condition related information specifying currentexisting conditions associated with the electronic device; compare theprivacy protection level to a threshold value; selectively block accessto the location data of the electronic device by the softwareapplication based on results of the comparing; modify the location datato generate remapped location data of the electronic device based on theprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device; andprovide the remapped location data to the software application so as tooperate the software application without using the location data ofelectronic device.
 12. The electronic device according to claim 11,wherein the privacy protection level is determined based on conditionrelated information specifying an electronic device context.
 13. Theelectronic device according to claim 12, wherein the condition relatedinformation is obtained from the electronic device or a remotedatastore.
 14. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein theelectronic device context is a product of at least one of the electronicdevice's owner, the software application's user, the softwareapplication's type, the software application's reputation, a headingdirection, the precise location, a date and a time.
 15. The electronicdevice according to claim 12, wherein the modifying comprises randomlyselecting a location within a circular geographic area representing theprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device.
 16. Theelectronic device according to claim 18, wherein the circular geographicarea further has a radius selected based on the privacy protection leveldetermined based on the given conditions.
 17. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 19, wherein the privacy protection level is a firstprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device, a secondprivacy protection level associated with the electronic device isdetermined that is different from the first privacy protection level.18. The electronic device according to claim 12, further comprisingallowing the software application access to the location data when theprivacy protection level is equal to or greater than the thresholdvalue.
 19. An electronic device, comprising: a circuit configured to:receive a request from an application to receive data, the dataindicative of a physical location of the electronic device; block theapplication from access to the data in response to the received requestso as to prevent transfer of the data to the application; determine ageographic area that includes a center point and a radius, the centerpoint indicative of the physical location of the electronic device andthe radius being selectable based on (1) ownership of the electronicdevice, (2) reputation of the application, (3) heading information ofthe electronic device, and (4) the physical location of the electronicdevice; select a location within the geographic area defined by theselected radius, the selected location being different than the physicallocation of the electronic device; and providing, by the electronicdevice, the selected location to the application so as to enableoperation of the application without use of data that includes thephysical location of the electronic device.
 20. The electronic device ofclaim 19, wherein the radius is selected further based on at least oneof the application's user, the application's type, a date and a time.21. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the access to the data isblocked based on results from comparing a privacy protection level valueto a threshold value.
 22. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein thelocation, in the geographic area defined by the selected radius, israndomly selected.